Prison guards on Monday staged a spontaneous protest in front of the Central Prisons, following the dismissal of the acting director of prisons Charalambos Philippides.
Speaking to the media, the spokesperson of the prison guards’ trade union Isotita, Giorgos Maltezos, called Philippides “a man with morals, dignity and close to the staff”.
He then urged President Nikos Christodoulides to reconsider his decision and investigate whether Philippides was indeed responsible for the escape on Thursday of convicted murderer Doros Theofanous, a hairdresser sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his pregnant partner, 24-year-old Yulia Oporok, and her child in 2011.
The escape took place when Theofanous was under the guard of four prison officers and three special police unit officers on a scheduled trip from the central prison to his family home near Paphos.
Maltezos pointed out that Philippides had been abroad on an official trip to Singapore at the time of the escape, adding that another official had been appointed to oversee Theofanous’ trip to his family home in his absence.
Maltezos also highlighted that in the eight months under Philippides leadership, new protocols had been developed in cooperation with both unions.
Regarding the responsibility for the escape, he mentioned that an administrative investigation is underway, which will clarify the situation.
In addition, Isotita and trade union Pasydy also announced a two-hour protest planned for Tuesday. According to a joint statement released by the unions, the protest is scheduled to take place at 8am again in front of the Central Prisons, with staff “expressing their dissatisfaction to the president of the Republic”.
After coming back from the UN General Assembly in New York, Christodoulides fired police chief Stelios Papatheodorou and the acting director of prisons.
In a post on X, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said Christodoulides had exercised his constitutional right to dismiss the police chief and his deputy Demetris Demetriou, in addition to giving instructions to the justice minister to do the same for the acting director of prisons.
In the statement unions criticised what they described as “an irrational decisions by the state, using the prison department as a political tool”.
They claimed that the department, which has faced long-standing issues, “has seen constant changes in leadership without stability, and they expressed their frustration at the dismissal of Philippides, whom they credit for providing vision and mobilising staff effectively”.
The unions also said that Philippides had no significant responsibility for the recent prison escape, but “was dismissed for appearances’ sake, without a proper investigation into his involvement”.
“His removal is another example of how prison staff are treated unfairly,” the statement said.
It also called the upcoming protest “the first in a series of actions to be decided by both unions with the aim of demanding dignity, respect, and the fulfilment of long-standing promises from the state”.
“The protest is not directed against the new acting director, who will be judged based on his performance,” the statement, which was co-signed by the heads of Pasydy and Isotita George Triftarides and Constantinos Constantinou, concluded.
